Luffy raised his eyebrows, feeling something foreign sliding behind his ears. The item then lingered on his face, resting at the center of his pointed nose.
"Glasses?" He asked, puzzled as to why he had to wear a pair of glasses he wouldn't be able to see out of.
"These are special sunglasses that'll help protect your eyes from the sunlight. Chopper said that they could also prevent you from straining your vision, so that way, it could reduce your headaches and dizziness as well."
The Swordsman informed, holding his hand out to Luffy.
"Are you ready?"
He politely questioned his Captain, wanting to make sure that the darker haired man felt well enough to walk around the Island.
Though Luffy had been reassuring him and the rest of his crewmates that he was in good conditions to join them on their journey, he never got to tell them that he wasn't feeling as well as they assumed he would be.
"I'll buy us something to eat for lunch as soon as I find a restaurant. And by the looks of it... This town sure does have a lot of them."
Zoro stated, handing Luffy his cane.
Taking his first steps forward to leave his bedroom, the Captain felt strangely imbalanced and Zoro couldn't help but to notice how anomalously he was walking, almost as if he had a set of colossal iron chains strapped to his ankles.
Even holding onto his cane, Luffy didn't find it as helpful as it used to be, compared to the first two or three days he was using it to make his way around the ship.
"Hold onto my arm, I'll help you."
"I'm..." The young man paused to inhale deeply.
By now, he was starting to feel fatigued from doing as little as walking from his bed to the dusty corridors outside of his bedroom.
"I'm dizzy." He confessed, growing out of breath.
"It could be hunger. I'll take you to the first restaurant or food stand I find, alright?"
His close friend enounced in a pleasant and lulling tone of voice.
Promising to find him a place to eat and trusting that there was one nearby to not have to walk too far, Luffy put his trust in the older man and walked by his side.
Though, the idea of eating didn't seem even the slightest bit appetizing for Luffy: To him, having a meal was no longer as relaxing as it used to be.
Contrary; it brought him more stress than relief, because he knows that from the moment he would put something nutritional in his mouth and spend time chewing down on it with caution, he would spend an equal amount of time trying to make it come back out of him before digesting it.
Such thoughts lead Luffy's throat to grow tight and gave him a hard time swallowing, the further into a crowd full of strangers he walked around, unsure of what their faces even looked like, wishing he could at least catch a glimpse of what may lie ahead of him.
It took the boy a moment to get used to the new atmosphere and different smells roaming around the Island, but as his nose grew adjusted to the noisy ambient he was within, he held on tighter to the Swordsman's arm, feeling more vulnerable than before.
From afar, Zoro could see a familiar looking hat with pastel shades of pink and blue connected to a short reindeer that was exploring the town, holding onto a small travel bag, which appeared to be overbrimming with plentiful medical herbs he was in desperate search of.
"I see Chopper nearby, let's stick with him just in case you start feeling unwell." The older man suggested.
"Slow down for a minute..."
Luffy intended on speaking louder to get his message across Zoro, but his lack of strength and decreased self-esteem levels prevented him from being more vocal towards anyone at the moment.
Using his gifted sense of smell to track down the Captain and Swordsman's scent from almost two miles away, Chopper's head perched upwards as he saw the duo walking towards him.
His first instinct was to wave at Zoro and approach him immediately, after noticing Luffy, and how seemingly well he was doing.
"Luffy!! You're here!" He shouted, indulged by his own excitement.
His voice alone let the Captain know how happy his cheery crew mate felt.
In return, Luffy nodded at Chopper with a promising smile.
Zoro and the young doctor looked at each other, feeling proud of how much their Captain's behavior had improved over the course of a few days.
They admired him for his courage and dedication for changing his old life and modifying it to live more comfortably, instead of letting his traumatic accident get the best of him.
"They keep slipping off of me." Luffy commented, referring to the sunglasses Zoro gave him.
Being asked to bend forward for a bit, the brunette complied and used Chopper's voice to guide his head downwards to face him.
"These sunglasses are adjustable, Luffy. I made them this way so that they wouldn't bother you while wearing them. Is that better now?"
The gentle doctor asked, earning a nod from his Captain.
"Oi Chopper, where were you headed before finding us?"
Zoro spoke, walking ahead as Chopper walked beside him.
Hearing their footsteps fading away ever so slightly, Luffy raised his head back up, losing his balance and sense of direction in the midst of doing so.
Turning over as he heard the sound of Luffy's feet struggling to remain on the ground, Zoro wrapped his arm around the boy's waist to keep him from growing imbalanced.
Soon, the sound of a small group of people laughing triggered Luffy. He ended up swiping Zoro's hand off of his waist.
"I can do it."
"Let me help,"
"I can do it."
Chopper watched in silence as the Captain and his first mate continued to endlessly bicker, unable to come to an agreement.
"Fine, walk ahead of Chopper then. Chopper! Speak to let Luffy know where you're standing."
"W-what should I say?!" A smile unintentionally escaped Luffy's lips after Chopper shouted.
"Gotcha... I'll prove you wrong, Roronoa Zoro."
The Swordsman smirked, realizing how much he missed Luffy's sassy tone of voice.
After his second attempt at shifting the weight from beneath his feet to walk forward, Luffy was surprised at how light he felt.
The amount of effort and strength he needed to use in order to move was becoming less of an obstacle for the young man, proving to himself and to his friends that he truly was as determined as he claimed to be.
Soon, the ear-piercing ruckus died down, the moment a smile traced Luffy's lips.
Zoro caught a set of sunglasses in the air before they touched the ground, feeling time pass him by slower than before.
The boy kept a smile on his face while Zoro and Chopper reeled him into a big hug, congratulating him on his achievement.
"I told you I would prove you wrong."
Were the last words Luffy happily spoke before his eyes shut, realizing that the uplifting cheers he was hearing from far away, were actually petrified screams.
~~~
YOU ARE READING
Love Is Blind | ZoLu
Fanfiction"Straw Hat Luffy... Will no longer be able to see again." A tragedy struck the Straw Hats when their Captain falls victim to Blackbeard's powers, while fighting against him. Because of this, Luffy ends up losing his eyesight, and goes on a rampage...
